An Intriguing Rescue
by Astris C
Summary: Continues from Assignment Six: There have been many attempts to bring back Sapphire and Steel, but here's a new version. Hope you like it!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The late afternoon sun hung low in the sky, just as a maroon coloured car drove into the worn-down gas station, sweeping up dirt on the road. The car stopped and a middle aged man stepped out. He was wearing a business shirt and a tie, and was known as Mr Hooba. He closed the door with a little slam, and locked the car with his smart key. The car signaled back with a blink of its headlights.

Hooba crossed the road slowly, looking up at the red banner that hung from the roof of the station. 'For sale, $800000, dial 91711001' it said.

What a fabulously low price, he thought to himself as he pulled open the dusty grey shutters. The old, deserted place spoke for itself. Nonetheless, perfect for starting his own cafe. He decided to go inspect the place for a bit, before he made his final decision.

Hooba stepped into the void of the main cafe room, there being nothing but a few wooden splintered chairs. He took another step. Crunch!

He stepped on what appeared to be a little dark box. He bent down, picked it up and opened it. A few pieces flew out and landed onto the floor. It turned out to be a portable chess set.

What's this doing here? Who's been here? he wondered. He picked up the peeled and yellowed pieces from the floor and set the game down on the counter.

Further in was a door that led to the reserved seating area. Hooba turned the knob and swung the door open.

He saw that he was back outside the gas station.

"Wha-" he exclaimed aloud. He glanced around. There was the red banner, above him, and his maroon car, behind him. He scratched his head, wondering if he had been dreaming.

 _I'm sane alright_ , he decided. He was going to try again. He walked back in front of the door, which had mysteriously closed by itself. Carefully, he turned the knob...

...and he appeared back on the dusty road again!

"Holy!" Hooba said, baffled. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his smart phone. He glanced up at the red banner and dialed the number, 91711001.

"Hello? Hey, I'm at Foxford Road, petrol station #11-2 for sale for eight hundred thousand, something weird is going on here."

The voice on the other end crackled back, "Describe?"

"I'm not sure you'll believe me, but there's a room that disappeared!"

"Disappeared?"

"I was standing at the door, and then I appeared... outside the station! You... you think I must be mad, don't you?"

"Appeared... more specific?"

"I open the door, and instead of opening it to a room, the surroundings just... transformed... and I'm outside on the road again! Don't get me wrong, it's a sweet little place, I'm still thinking of buying it-"

"I'll be coming over," the voice said briefly.

"Oh you will? Thank goodness! May I know your name, good sir-" And he realised the man had already ended the call.

Hooba slipped his phone back into his pocket and sighed. How long would he have to wait, an hour? Or two? It was a remote station, quite a long way from town, and people nowadays were always late. He decided to go back and sit in the comfort of his air-conditioned car. Just as he turned around, to his utter surprise, a shiny silver car showed up at the station. At the speed it was going, it was bound to crash into his own car. Hooba ran forward and waved his hands in the air,shouting, "Hey, hey! Stop!"

The silver car screeched to an abrupt stop, just an inch away from his maroon one. A tall lean man stepped out. He dusted his sleeves and smoothed his slick black coat. He pulled out a silver suitcase with one hand and reached for a shiny top hat with the other. Both his hands occupied, he kicked the car door closed. With big strides, he approached Hooba. He put on his top hat and cleared his throat. "Good afternoon, Mr Hooba."

Isn't it basic courtesy to take off a hat at a greeting, not put it on? That appalled him first. "Do you know me?" he said, startled.

"I know most people around town," he claimed, straightening his hat. "Come, show me that room you said... disappeared..."

"Where... did you come from? Town is a couple of miles away!"

"5.73 kilometres, to be exact. Come along now, show me the place," the man said impatiently.

Hooba looked at him curiously, then led him into the cafe.

"Touched anything, have you?" the man asked.

"Erm no... except these chairs," he said, looking around. "Oh wait! There's a chess set!"

The man's lip curled. He turned around to face the counter. "Ah... there it is," he said, mostly to himself. He held the box and felt it with his black, gloved hands. He opened the box, and miraculously, the pieces were stuck firmly onto the chess board, at their respective positions.

"But they were loose just now!" Hooba uttered in bewilderment.

"50 year old game. Doesn't hurt to re-magnetise them," he said coolly.

"You what?"

The man shook his head, smoothed his chin and smiled.

Hooba started to feel uncomfortable. "Who are you, anyway? You must be selling this property, I mean, that's all I know..."

The man now opened his suitcase and went through its contents. "The name's Mercury."

Hooba looked at him, thinking he was the most peculiar man he had ever met. "Oh." Hooba began to scan him from head to toe. "And why the need for such a hat? No one wears those nowadays."

"So I can look taller," Mercury said matter-of-factly. He now got busy with a few wood and metal pieces.

"Oh... you sure look tall enough," Hooba said with a tinge of envy. He tried to peep at what Mercury was doing with his tools. " By the way, don't you want to look into the missing room?" He waited for an answer, which took about two minutes.

"What piece is gone there?" Mercury asked him, his eyes still fixed upon his work.

"What piece? Oh, you mean the chess piece... Why, a fine pawn is missing."

"Pawn, is it..." Mercury's voice trailed off as faintly as it came. After another long minute of waiting, Hooba finally received a response. "Yes, the room. Show it to me."

Hooba led him to the room. "Well, I can't exactly show it to you, it's not there, you see..." Hooba reached out for the doorknob.

"No. Allow me," Mercury stopped him. Hooba stepped aside and Mercury held the doorknob. Cautiously, he turned it and opened the door in such a manner, that...

Hooba and Mercury stayed where they were. In the place of the room was a foggy, white space.

"But-but nothing was here!" Hooba exclaimed.

"Isn't this nothing?" Mercury said, pointing at the white space.

"No, that's white, that's something. When I opened it there was absolutely nothing."

"Ah, that's because _you_ opened it," Mercury remarked. He pulled out the chess set and a newly manufactured pawn from his pocket.

"You made that?"

Mercury closed the door of the room again. He laid the almost-complete chess board on his palm and held up the new pawn with two fingers.

"What exactly are you doing?" Hooba asked uneasily.

"Do you want your room back?" Mercury simply said.

"Yes, I do."

Mercury lowered the pawn slowly. "Home sweet home..." he said as the pawn landed on its belonging square.

A flash of light zoomed down from the sky, landed and created a bright, white explosion. Just then, the ground shook, throwing Hooba off his feet. He cried out and landed painfully onto the floor.

/

There were a pair of closed eyes, unmoving and calm, complete with beautiful eyelashes. Suddenly they opened, revealing a pair of alert and intense dark blue eyes. They began to glow an eerily bright blue. A woman's voice called out and echoed, "Steel!"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"I sense something... Our surroundings have changed," Sapphire informed as she scanned the atmosphere. "Nitrogen, oxygen... Steel! I think we are-" she stopped, realising that Steel was not responding to her. Her eyes stopped glowing and she turned to face him. Steel was seated next to her in the one room of the cafe, his chin buried in his chest, asleep. Sapphire placed a hand on his shoulder and communicated with him telepathically, [Steel, wake up. I cannot believe this but I think we are being rescued!]

Steel opened his eyes suddenly, and they were a deep shade of grey. "Rescued?" he uttered in disbelief. He stood up from his chair and walked over to the window, forcefully drawing the curtains open. He gasped and stared at the view, wide-eyed.

Outside was the road where the gas station was situated at!

"But there was nothing but space..." Steel said, still too astonished to believe his eyes. He turned to Sapphire. "How long have we been asleep?"

"Time runs more quickly in this room. We have aged two hundred and fifty-six years, while only thirty years have passed on Earth. This is the year 2020."

He remembered. _Space. Hours_ _will become days and months. And years will become thousands of years..._ The truth had stricken him, and he had to face it.

Just then, he heard a distinct voice in his head, [Are you there, my dear Sapphire and Steel?]

Sapphire glanced at Steel, confirming she had heard the voice. Steel opened the door of the room to directly face Mercury.

"Welcome back to Earth, my friend," Mercury greeted him warmly. Steel motioned out of the room, only to be thrust backwards by an invisible force, preventing him from exiting.

"Oh, I wouldn't do that if I were you," Mercury warned. "I got you out of space, but not yet out of the room."

Sapphire came forward to do a spot analysis. She touched the surface of the field with her hand. "It's a sort of time bubble, imprisoning us inside. There is still a time difference inside and outside of the room." She looked up and gave Mercury a sweet smile. "They sent for you?"

He returned the smile. "Yes-"

A voice from outside interrupted him. "What is going on here? Who's in there?" Hooba approached the doorway.

"Stand aside, Mr Hooba, it could be dangerous," Mercury gestured him away.

"Human? Transient?" Steel asked quickly.

"Human."

"What is a human doing here with you?" Steel said, still displeased.

"He wants his room back. Don't worry, he's perfectly harmless."

Sapphire smiled, knowing Steel's disliking for humans in general.

"Human? Is that what you're calling me?" Hooba's voice came from outside, clearly offended.

"Isn't that what you are are?" Mercury answered back.

Even more agitated, Hooba approached the doorway stubbornly to address the three of them. "Look, I just came along hoping to buy this property, then strange things started to happen in this room, this strange... Mercury... appeared, and now you two strange people show up, out of nowhere! I don't know who... or what... you are, but judging from what you call me, I don't think you are human. And not forgetting there was an earthquake just now... I need to know what is going on!" And with that, Hooba pushed past Mercury, only to be repelled by the strong invisible force. There was a loud zap, and Hooba was violently flung against the opposite wall. He rolled to the ground, unconscious.

Mercury checked his pulse. "Don't worry, he's not dead. But I'm afraid we just have to leave him aside. Can't do anything for him now." Mercury lifted him up and dragged him to another room.

"That's one disturbance out of the way," Steel muttered gruffly. He then turned to Sapphire and his tone softened. "I'm sorry."

"Why?"

Steel looked down. "For giving up."

Sapphire held his shoulder affectionately. "We both did."

Steel moved away from her embrace. "Now how do we get out of this place."

"I thought you come up with the ideas."

"Most that work are yours," Steel said, returning her the burden of the compliment.

"You know that's not true."

Seeing that Mercury had returned, Steel demanded, "So why did they send you? What happened to Silver? And what took them thirty years to locate us?"

Mercury was playing with his gloves. Being both used to and prepared for Steel's questioning, he replied calmly, "Silver's in trouble for failing to save you. We're currently having problems with the Transients, so practically everyone's busy- except me. So I'm here."

"And how did you bring us back from space?"

"Ah... that." Mercury bent down and picked up the portable chess set. "There was one missing chess piece, which I thought represented this missing room, so I manufactured a pawn and placed it in its square. There you are."

Steel wore an emotionless expression. "Very clever, Mercury," he said, staring at the chess board. "But that isn't it."

For the first time, Mercury looked unsure of himself. "It isn't?"

"You manufactured a _new_ piece," Steel explained slowly. "And that piece, although it fits, does _not_ belong to the board. Similarly, this room, although present, does not belong to its surroundings. Hence the time bubble."

Mercury nodded, feeling a bit dismayed. "I see..."

"That's alright, we just have to find the original," Sapphire said optimistically.

"Sounds easy enough," Steel remarked, turning to Mercury, who went immediately to search for it. As soon as he turned the corner, he walked straight into a transient. The same one who had outsmarted Sapphire and Steel.

Mercury froze, knowing that it would be useless to call for help with his friends trapped. Still, he kept his composure and faced her bravely.

Her lip curled, and she said in almost a whisper, "Mercury." She opened her palm to reveal the missing pawn. "Looking for something?"

Mercury knew better than to go for the piece. He watched the transient, trying to anticipate her next move.

"By the way, I like your hat," she said in an attempt to distract him, but Mercury didn't even bat an eyelash. "Oh you're no fun. Seems like you don't want this after all." With that, the transient squeezed the pawn in her palm, determined to crush and destroy it.

"No!" Mercury lunged at the transient, gripping her throat in his hands. She struggled, but channelled her pain into something else. Her eyes began to glow an eerie red, and Mercury felt himself weakening.

The other two stood helplessly at the doorway. Steel looked despondent. Sapphire placed one hand on the door, trying to contain her anxiety. "Mercury..." she said in an undertone.

Despite his declining strength, Mercury refused to let go. The transient was gasping for breath, but her eyes were growing redder and wider than ever. Mercury could feel himself being pulled away from her by a strong force, as if he was being melted away and dematerialized. He vaporized into a thin fog, and was sucked into the chess piece. At the same time, the transient vanished, leaving just a pawn lying on the floor.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Sapphire gasped. Steel turned to her. "What is it?"

"They've both disappeared."

"What?"

Sapphire closed her eyes and concentrated hard. "The transient has gone. While Mercury..." she opened her eyes and they were wide open with terror. "He's been trapped inside the chess piece!"

Steel frowned, turned away and started pacing. "All three of us trapped! What a fix we are in!" he grumbled, stopping to pound his fist on the table. It was the most disgruntled Sapphire had ever seen him. Steel sat himself down on a chair. Though feeling very despaired herself, Sapphire went to encourage him.

"Steel, we can't give up now."

Steel furrowed his eyebrows. "I'm not giving up, I'm thinking!"

Sapphire smiled. His spirit was indomitable after all.

"Give up? Me? After doing nothing but sleep for the past two hundred and fifty-six years?" He stood up with conviction in his eyes. He felt rather ashamed of himself for giving in to sleep, something he had been proud of for never doing. But at that time there wasn't a choice. They had been stuck in nowhere, forever, and there was nothing they could do but shut down for goodness knows how long before help arrived. But now things were different. Help did arrive, just not so smoothly. Giving up was no longer an option.

Steel's eyes narrowed with decision. "Sapphire, can you try to communicate with him?"

Sapphire closed her eyes once more. [Mercury, can you hear me? If you can hear me, please answer me. Mercury?]

No answer. She tried again. [Mercury, please answer me. Can you hear me?]

/

Somewhere in the depths of darkness and despair, was Mercury. He was trapped in what felt like a closet, but it was so claustrophobic that it was suffocating him. He could see nothing but fog and vague flashes of red light. Very faintly, he heard his name. In reply, he called wanly, [Sapphire?]

[I'm receiving him,] she pulsed to Steel. [Mercury, you've been trapped inside the chess piece. What do you see?]

Mercury felt around blindly and answered in almost a moan, [Not much... I... I'm in a tight, enclosed space, it's all red fog. Nothing much, really...]

[Can you find a way out?] she asked, though knowing that it was a pointless question.

[No... There's no opening. I've tried teleporting, doesn't work.]

[Can you sense any anomalies? Check for time bubbles.]

Mercury could feel himself growing limper by the minute, and even their mental link was weakening. [I can't sense anything. You know unlike you, I don't have a connection with Time.]

For awhile there came no answer. [Sapphire?] he panicked.

[I'm here, Mercury.] she reassured him. [What is your physical condition?]

[It's just getting a little hard to breathe. Other than that I'm fine, really.]

But Sapphire knew very well that he was far from fine. She shot Steel a nervous glance. "He's suffocating. They've left him there to die, Steel!"

Steel took a deep breath, frustration boiling inside him. "How long does he have?"

"He will only be able to withstand the fog for two hours. Then he dies."

"Don't lose him."

[Mercury?] she sent. A desperate voice came in response.

[Sapphire! Sapphire... I...]

[Yes Mercury?]

[I don't think I can...] Then the voice faded away and didn't come back.

She turned sharply to to Steel. "I've lost him. Our link has been severed." Her voice, though steady, had an underlying tone of fear.

Steel pursed his lips, thoroughly agitated. " _I_ see what they're getting at." He started to pace again. "They resent our independence, don't they? Our freedom to travel through space and time. That's why they've anchored us in a static pocket of time, and I suppose Mercury in something similar. This is what they want the fate of us elementals to be, disconnected! Lost! Now who is going to place that pawn on the board?"

Sapphire's eyes twinkled. "Mr Hooba."

Steel turned to her. "What?" "The human, lying unconscious in the room outside. I might be able to reach him and he could help us," Sapphire explained. A smile spread across her face, which disappeared almost immediately. "But the only question is, what will that do to Mercury?"

Steel stared into her eyes without hesitation. "Only one way to find out."

She knew what she had to do. Sapphire concentrated and she could feel her mind searching for that of the unconscious Hooba. She found him and called out repeatedly, [Mr Hooba, wake up!]

Hooba stirred a little, then woke up with a start and sat up suddenly. "Who's there?" he called to the voices he heard in his head.

[Listen to me, Mr Hooba. Look for a chess board and a pawn.]

Hooba jumped. "Who are you? And... where am I?"

[Never mind that, Mr Hooba. Now what did I just say?]

"You... you told me to find a chess board... and a pawn."

[That's right, go and look for it. Thank you, Mr Hooba.]

Utterly confused, Hooba stumbled out of the room and into the main cafe room. At a corner, he saw the portable chess set and picked it up. Further out was a tiny chess piece that he almost missed. Picking that up too, he said aloud, "I found the stuff!"

Sapphire smiled. [Good. Now do you see a pawn on the board that looks different? One that looks newer?]

"Yes."

[Now, I want you to swap that pawn with the one in your hand, but I want you to do it very quickly. Can you do that, Mr Hooba?]

"But what is going to happen?" Hooba asked.

[You'll see. Do it as quickly as possible. Swap it in three...]

Steel glanced at Sapphire in anticipation.

[Two...]

Hooba was ready, pawn in hand.

[One.]

In one swift move, Hooba replaced the pawn on the board. Without warning, the ground shook. A bright light flashed from the reserved seating room and zoomed upwards, sending vibrations throughout the cafe. Before Hooba could even react, the whiteness landed back down with a smash, and the impact blacked him out once again.

/

Steel could feel his head throbbing. He lifted his face from the ground and felt around. He came across a smooth, delicate hand.

 _Sapphire._

He pulled himself up and knelt beside her. She lay motionlessly, her blond hair sprawled on the floor and her eyes closed. He held her hand and squeezed it gently. [Sapphire?]

Sapphire didn't move, not even her eyes, but she returned a pulse. [Did it work?]

Steel looked around, and seeing that they were outside in the main dining room, he returned his gaze to her. [Oh yes. It worked.]

Sapphire smiled, a smile of relief and satisfaction. [I can feel it now.] Her eyes fluttered open to look into Steel's eyes. [It feels good to be free.]

Before Steel could relax, he heard Mercury's voice in her mind, [Steel! Sapphire!] The two picked themselves up and made their way briskly to the doorway of the reserved seating room.

Mercury was curled up on the floor, struggling in immense pain. Steel made his way in, but was once again recoiled by the strong force of the time bubble.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"This time bubble is much stronger. It's damaging him," Sapphire analysed and reported, a worried expression on her features.

"These Transients have no idea what they are meddling with," Steel said grimly. "I'm sure you know better than most the consequences of playing with time."

Sapphire's traditional explanation of Time suddenly occurred to him. "Like fabric, you used to call it... It is very strong, it surrounds all things, passes through all things..." Ideas were racing through Steel's mind, and he struggled to connect them.

"You're right, Steel, it is very dangerous to warp time, to distort it..." Sapphire breathed, a faraway look in her eyes. "There is no way to create an artificial time bubble that is-" she turned suddenly to Steel and fixed her eyes onto his. "... completely stable."

They stood motionless, their eyes glued to each other, and they stayed that way for a few seconds. But Steel finally blinked and ended the staring contest. "That's it!"

He faced the doorway. "With our powers combined, we can try to unstabilise the surface of the bubble, maybe even collapse it, and with whatever strength left of him, Mercury can break out! You can manipulate time, including bubbles, surely?"

"Possibly if I tried, although..." Sapphire trailed off, knowing that Steel could read her mind.

"Dangerous? So? This is no time for doubt, Sapphire!" Steel chided her stiffly. He sent telepathically, [Mercury, as soon as we weaken the time bubble, you will force yourself out.] Hearing no response, he called again, [Mercury?]

Mercury was slumped on the floor. Finally, he answered with a fair amount of agony, [Yes, I heard you.]

[Good, you will do that,] he said, also serving as a cue for Sapphire. She concentrated, and her eyes glowed a magnificent blue. Steel began to drop the temperature of his core, which was soon way below zero. Sapphire could feel the cold air surrounding her, but she stayed focused. After a great amount of effort on her part, the bubble flickered ever so slightly.

[Keep it going, Sapphire!] he said, then raised both his hands cautiously, touching the surface of the bubble. The effect was noticeable. The bubble changed to a frosted, translucent colour, flickering every few seconds.

[Freezing it will make it brittle. Once it's weak enough, use all the strength you have to destroy it.]

[I'm afraid this is all I have...] Sapphire murmured, the bright blue in her eyes fading.

[No it isn't! Keep it going,] Steel told her, keeping his hands steady in freezing the bubble. Still deep in concentration, Sapphire slowly sank to the ground. Steel did the same and crouched down beside her. They bowed their heads, pushing themselves as hard as they could.

[Almost there... Just a bit more...] Steel said, observing the violent quivering of the field.

[I can't do this any longer!] Sapphire said in almost a sob. Steel noticed that she was trembling just as much as the time bubble, and decided that it was indeed too much for her. [If you can't do anymore, Mercury will have to risk pushing through this unstable bubble.]

[I'm sorry...] Sapphire winced, tears filling her glowing blue eyes. She had reached her limit.

[Alright, hold it there. Make room for Mercury,] Steel instructed her. They leaned to one side and cleared the doorway. [Jump, Mercury!] he called to him.

Mercury narrowed the eyes on his pale face, took a great leap forward and braced himself for the impact. Right in the nick of time, a man in a silvery-grey suit and wavy red hair appeared at the doorway, pulled out a blaster-like device, aimed it at the field and clicked the trigger. There was a deafening zap and the bubble collapsed, releasing Sapphire and Steel from their concentration. They fell to the floor, just as Mercury landed outside the room with a heavy thud.

"Hello, my friends!" Silver greeted them cheerily. He held out a hand to Sapphire and flashed her a charming smile. She took it gladly and Silver helped her up, pulling her face to only inches away from his own. "Silver!" she gasped elatedly, still recovering her strength. Silver helped Mercury up and gave him a friendly pat on the back. "Good to see you, buddy," Silver said to him. Mercury was quite surprised at his arrival, but was also too exhausted to say anything at the moment. Silver held out a hand to Steel, who stiffly said, "Don't touch me!" His core was still frozen, and with some effort, he picked himself up. "What are you doing here, Silver?" he asked coldly.

"Rescuing the three of you, of course! What else would I be here for?"

"Weren't you in trouble with the Authority?" Mercury gave him a puzzled look.

"I _was_ _,_ yes. Not anymore," he said proudly, putting his hands on his hips. "Considering the transient's power and other circumstances, they've decided to give me chance. So I spent quite a few years designing this device." He flashed the device for them all to see. "A time bubble annihilator, made just for the occasion."

"We could have done it without your help, anyway," Steel remarked.

"Oh, could you?" Silver sneered at him. "Didn't seem like it."

Sapphire turned to him. "But why were you in trouble, Silver? What happened to us was not your fault."

Silver shrugged his shoulders. "Precisely! I don't know!" He looked at his friends innocently. "Perhaps it's time we go home? Besides, you've got some warming up to do, Steel."

"And _you've_ got some explaining to do, Silver," Mercury said concernedly.

"Right. But there's still one thing left to do," Steel eyed Sapphire. She smiled knowingly and headed to the main cafe room. Hooba lay there, unconscious, the complete chess set not far from his reach. Sapphire knelt down to wake him, but upon touching him, she suddenly pulled her hand back. "He's been put in stasis. Immobilized..."

That could only mean one thing. She turned around to see the transient standing there boldly, despite being outnumbered by the four of them.

Mercury was the first to speak. "What do you want?"

"Oh nothing from you," she smiled. "Though your presence would bring my eyes hours and hours of pleasure." It took her awhile to shift her gaze from Mercury to the other three.

"We had no interest in you, Silver," she continued. "But after your little trick with your annihilator, you just might prove useful to us."

Silver was secretly delighted to have his talents complimented on. "That is very flattering, but no thank you, transient. I'm afraid not."

"Save your effort. We do not wish to repeat the same conversation," Steel said directly.

"Oh but this is a rather different one. We are no longer asking for your cooperation," she said, flashing him a sly grin. "We are ordering for it."

"We cannot cooperate. Our goal is to safeguard the natural structure of time. Yours is to gain control over it," Sapphire stated plainly.

The transient turned to her. "We have more in common than you might think. As soon as we have full control over time, safeguarding it would be a breeze. We would be able to influence it, command it."

Sapphire stared straight into her eyes, her voice stern. "They are _not_ the same."

The transient gave her a little scoff. "Just imagine the things we could achieve together. Sapphire and Steel, the most successful pairing among the elementals. Sapphire... multi-talented, intuitive, with a high sensitivity to Time. And Steel..." The transient leaned over to stroke his cheek with her hand, which froze immediately upon contact. She did not flinch. Steel glared at her as she continued speaking, "Your marvellously strategic and analytical brain would do very well in our community." Her fingers went all the way down to his chin. "Not to mention your tactical cunning. That is highly welcome."

Steel said nothing, and just glared. The transient finally released her frost-covered hand. "After all, if you can't beat them, join them."

Steel was more annoyed than ever. "And if you can't do either, you should leave."

The transient sniggered. "I'm very sure that _you_ will join us."

For the first time, Steel's lip curled. "How can you be so sure? You trapped us in a time bubble. We escaped. They are of no use to you now!" He was quickly regaining his mocking nature. "You order for our cooperation. But you can't, can you? You can only _beg_ for our cooperation, and I know why you're so desperate. You are _transient_. Your existence in the future is only transitory, temporary! You need _us_ to travel in time, and you have no means for us to comply!"

The fury in her eyes was palpable, but the transient's smirk persisted. "But I do."

"What?" Steel challenged.

The transient pointed at the immobilised man on the floor. "He dies."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The four elementals exchanged glances. They all expected the threat to be something larger, but it was still large enough to create a dilemma. They knew it was their moral duty to minimize the loss of human lives, and every single life counted. But sparing his life by joining the transients would be disposing of their duty altogether.

The transient gloated over their indecision, and broke the silence. "It shouldn't be too hard, should it? It's just one human being. You barely even know him!"

Steel knew it wasn't the Transients' nature to do unreasonable and fruitless killing. "If you are doing this for amusement's sake, I hope you realise by now that we refuse to entertain you."

The transient smiled a defeated smile. "Quite right, Steel. And yet you amuse me. Your elemental resilience and resolve is the only reason you're still here. Something we could learn from." She snapped her fingers, releasing Hooba from stasis. He stirred and moaned a little.

"And we, from your organized system," Steel commented sarcastically. Sapphire smiled, and looked from Steel to the transient. "Which is why we would work best as rivals."

The transient's smile never faltered. "Till we meet again." And there she vanished.

They heaved a sigh of relief. They were spared. For now.

Hooba finally managed to stand upright, feeling lost and disgruntled from the bump on the side of his head. Sapphire motioned towards him and greeted him first with a kiss on the cheek. Instantly, Hooba could feel the pain being soothed and begin to subside. "Thank you for saving us, Mr Hooba." she said to him. Hooba was too dazed and mesmorised by Sapphire to speak. Before he could even think of a response, Sapphire turned and exited the cafe. Steel and Silver followed, leaving Mercury with Hooba.

"Oh it's you!" Hooba gasped, relieved to see a familiar face. "What... what happened? Who are those people? And... where is the room?"

"They're acquaintances I'm glad to have back. And the room is back where it belongs."

"Oh good."

"I have another piece of good news for you," Mercury smiled and leaned over to whisper in his ear, "You have this place free-of-charge."

Hooba's eyes widened. "You mean that?" He turned to face him, but there was nothing left in his place but empty air.

THE END


End file.
